Raniere, Mack appear in court on sex-slavery charges

Federal prosecutors say their seized 'enormous amount' of materials from Halfmoon home

NXIVM leader Keith Raniere and Allison Mack appear in a group of videos titled "Keith Raniere Conversations," that were published on YouTube on April 9, 2017. (Keith Raniere Conversations/YouTube)

NXIVM leader Keith Raniere and Allison Mack appear in a group of videos titled "Keith Raniere Conversations," that were published on YouTube on April 9, 2017. (Keith Raniere Conversations/YouTube)

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NXIVM leader Keith Raniere and Allison Mack appear in a group of videos titled "Keith Raniere Conversations," that were published on YouTube on April 9, 2017. (Keith Raniere Conversations/YouTube)

NXIVM leader Keith Raniere and Allison Mack appear in a group of videos titled "Keith Raniere Conversations," that were published on YouTube on April 9, 2017. (Keith Raniere Conversations/YouTube)

Raniere, Mack appear in court on sex-slavery charges

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NEW YORK — Authorities unearthed a trove of electronic devices, emails and recordings when they raided a Halfmoon residence linked to NXIVM founder Keith Raniere as part of a federal probe into alleged sex slavery and human trafficking, a federal prosecutor said Friday.

"There was a number of admissions by the defendant" among the evidence seized by investigators, Assistant U.S. Attorney Moira Penza said in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn. Penza said prosecutors took at least a year's worth of electronic records during the raid earlier this year.

The U.S. Attorney's office made the disclosure as Raniere and his co-defendant, former "Smallville" actress Allison Mack, appeared in court to answer charges they coerced women into joining a secret sex cult that branded its members with the pair's initials during rituals conducted in Saratoga County.

Penza said the investigation is continuing, and that a new indictment will be filed soon against Raniere and Mack.

She indicated others are likely to face charges, too.

Raniere, a 57-year-old known within NXIVM as "Vanguard," allegedly served as a "grand master" over female members of the organization — including Mack — who were forced to provide material known as "collateral" in order to join the club known as Dominus Obsequious Sororium (DOS), which means "Master Over the Slave Women," according to a federal complaint.

If the women tried to leave, they faced the threat that the collateral — such as damaging information about their family members or pictures of their genitalia — would be released, the complaint said.

The women, some of whom said they were pressured to have sex with Raniere, told federal authorities that a female doctor associated with NXIVM used a cauterizing iron to brand them with a design on their lower abdomen that contained the initials of Raniere and Mack.

One of Raniere's attorneys, Marc Agnifilo, urged the judge to schedule the trial for early summer.

"At the end of the day, this a case about consent," Agnifilo said, adding that he believed "99 percent" percent of the items seized by authorities would have no bearing on the case.

Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis saw no reason to rush, setting an Oct. 1 trial date so "everyone knows when the trial will begin and you can get to work on that."

Outside court, Agnifilo scoffed when asked if his client was part of a "sex cult," calling the term "a label that the government is attaching to conduct to make it nefarious."

He downplayed the branding, as well.

"There are well-known groups of men that brand themselves," Agnifilo said. "It's utterly incontroversial. But a group of women decides to brand themselves, and all of a sudden they're victims."

He described DOS as nothing more than "a group. I mean, people form groups. They form sports teams, they form fraternities, they form different social groups. It's a group comprised of women who have joined the group for their own absolutely legitimate reasons."

Agnifilo downplayed allegations that the women were coerced into remaining in the group. "If people want to join a group and give pictures of themselves and that's understood going in, that's ... a free choice that adult women made," he said.

Paul DerOhannesian, a Capital Region lawyer also representing Raniere, said the media had wrongly portrayed what the group was about.

"It's still the United States of America and adults engage in sexual relationships that they consent to," DerOhannesian said. "I think what you're going to see is these were consenting adults who knew what they were doing and approved of it."

Toni Natalie, a former longtime girlfriend of Raniere, attended the court appearance. She described the NXIVM leader as a "sociopath" who should have faced federal charges long ago.

Told prosecutors had suggested more members of NXIVM could be charged, Natalie said, "I can't wait."

She said while she sees some people involved as victims, those facilitating the group "knew exactly what they were doing, and they need to be held accountable."

Raniere pleaded not guilty to the federal charges. Mack, who was arraigned last week, said little during the court appearance; her attorney suggested she should not be required to be in court for each development in the case. Raniere is in custody without bail and prosecutors said Friday that they would oppose any effort to set bail for him.

"I do not see Mr. Raniere pleading guilty," Agnifilo said. "He has no reason to plead guilty. He steadfastly denies these charges and I expect that we're going to have a very vigorous defense and I predict that we will prevail."

Penza said during the appearance that federal investigators seized "an enormous amount of electronic devices" from a NXVIM-connected townhouse in Halfmoon known within the group as "the Library."

Federal prosecutors allege the home was where Raniere repeatedly had sex with an actress in her 30s who is not named in court filings. That townhouse on Hale Drive, searched by the FBI on March 27, is the location where federal authorities say the unidentified actress became a victim of sex trafficking and forced labor. The actress lived in Brooklyn during the time, which is part of the reason the case is being pursued in that borough.

Court documents describe the actress' account of Mack instructing her to meet Raniere in the middle of the night near his home, where she was instructed to remove her clothing, and had a blindfold placed over her eyes. After driving around for a period of time, they walked through some woods to a shack where the actress said she was tied to a table and forced to engage in oral sex with an unidentified person who was in the room with Raniere. It's unclear if the unidentified person was male or female.

Raniere has been held in custody without bond since he was taken into custody March 25 at a luxury villa in Puerto Vallarta by Mexican federal police officers, who arrested him at the request of U.S. law enforcement.

He and Mack, 35, were indicted earlier this year on charges that include multiple counts of sex trafficking, conspiracy to commit sex trafficking and conspiracy to commit forced labor. If convicted, they each face a potential mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison.

FBI records allege Mack helped recruit women into the club and made them pose naked for photographs she forwarded to Raniere. She allegedly delivered some of the women to Raniere for sexual encounters — and at least one of the women described the sex as unwanted.

On "Smallville," Mack played the character of Chloe Sullivan, the best friend of Clark Kent, cousin of Lois Lane and the editor of the high school newspaper.

Mack last appeared in Brooklyn federal court April 24 for a bail hearing. A judge allowed Mack to remain free on $5 million bond, but only after her mother, Melinda Mack, signed the bond to secure her release, which included putting Melinda Mack's Los Alamito, Calif., home up as collateral. Mack also agreed to use her retirement savings as collateral.

Allison Mack is being electronically monitored and must reside at her parents' home while her case is pending. Her passport was seized.

When Mack first appeared in court, Penza said that "under the guise of female empowerment ... she starved women until they fit her co-defendant's sexual ideal and she targeted vulnerable women in order to do that."